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Language Variation and Identity

Language Variation and Identity

Social Class

Montgomery and Bernstein (1971) - Restricted and Elaborated Code

proposed a different way of looking at language, rather than SE and dialectal variants

The elaborated code has a more formally correct syntax, having more subordinate clauses and fewer unfinished sentences. There are also more logical connectives like “if” and “unless”, as well as more originality and more explicit reference

he restricted code has a looser syntax, uses more words of simple coordination like “and” and “but”, there are more clichés, and more implicit reference so there are a greater number of pronouns than the elaborated code

middle classes able to effectively code-switch between SE and non-standard forms

Working classes restricted to their linguistic structures

Whilst perhaps applicable in the past when the class system was firmly entrenched and rigid and people travelled less, there is greater social mobility nowadays, as well as the spread of dialectal, non-standard forms via modern media, making this seem no longer applicable and outdated

Even still, this suggests that the classes were wholly isolated from one another and were therefore

Labov (1966) - The Social Stratification of English in New York City

different pronunciations of vowel sounds attributed to social class

speakers in more prestigious stores who aspired to use the prestige accent use the post-vocalic /r/ sound (where the /r/ phoneme is pronounced following a vowel, e.g. in 'cart' or 'park')

by repeating his request for an item he knew to be on the 'fourth floor', he made speakers demonstrate their pronunciation both when they were unaware and cautious of how they spoke

it was those he identified as middle-class that were most susceptible to the overt prestige of the post-vocalic /r/ as they differed the most between the incidence in casual speech style (4%) to most careful speech style (77%)

linguistic variation is therefore not random and unstructured but rather the orderly heterogeneity of language; variation is governed by other contextual factors, in this instance, the speaker's social class

RP and SE have historically been regarded as the hallmarks of prestige, consequently associating them with those in power and the upper classes

Malcolm Petyt (1985) - Bradford dialect study

investigated the relationship between 'h-dropping' and the speaker's social class

i.e. 'hat' becoming 'at'

found that the lower your social class, the more likely you were to h-drop

concluded that those climbing the social ladder were more likely to alter their accent and dialect to conform to RP norms (desired inclusion, overt prestige)

this led to hyper-correction in some cases

Trudgill (1974) - Norwich dialect study

interested to see whether Labov's findings were applicable to the UK - found that people of lower socio-economic status were more likely to use non-standard features than those of a higher socio-economic status

Looking at “walking”& “talking” as the standard form and “walkin’,” “talkin’” as the non-standard form peculiar to the local accent. Also considering at the presence or absence of the third person –s ending, as in “he go to the shop” or “he goes to the shop”.

– differentiated between relaxed and careful speech in order to assess participants awareness of their own accents as well as how they wished to sound – which saw the non-standard pronunciation quickly decline– Found that class is more of a determiner of non-standard usage than gender, though women in all social classes are more likely to use the overt prestige or RP form– Men over-reported their non-standard usage – implying that men wished to sound more non-standard, assuming that they used more of the covert prestige forms– Women over-reported their standard usage – implying that women wished to sound more standard, assuming that they used more of the overt prestige forms– Concluded that women are more susceptible to overt prestige than men (and men more susceptible to covert prestige)– In the “lower middle class” and the “upper working class” the differences between men’s and women’s usage of the standard forms were greatest in formal speech, thereby identifying these classes as most susceptible to the prestige of the RP form, with women leading the way on this front(-ng) in Norwich by social class and sex for Formal Style (Trudgill. 1974a)

Early studies of social class created problems: it did not identify gender distinctions as it was based on the occupation of the 'head of the household', thus submerging unemployed women beneath their husbands and fathersThe system was as follows:

A = higher managerial, administrative or professional

B = intermediate managerial, administrative or professional

C1 = supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional

C2 = skilled manual workers

D semi-skilled/unskilled manual workers

E = casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and those who rely on the state for their income

investigated the relationship between use of non-standard variables and adherence to peer group norms

Identified 11 non-standard features and measured their frequency of use in boys and girls in a Reading playground, differentiating between those who approved or disapproved of minor criminal activities

“They calls me names.”“You just has to do what the teacher says.”“You was with me, wasn’t you?”“It ain’t got no pedigree or nothing.”“I never went to school today.”“Are you the ones what hit him?”“I come down here yesterday.”“You ain’t no boss.”

All children who approved of peer group criminal activities were more likely to use non-standard forms, but boys more so

All children who disapproved of such activities use non-standard forms less frequently, but the difference between the groupings of girls was more stark

Suggests that variation in dialect is a conscious choice, influenced by (declared) social attitude

Males are more susceptible to covert prestige, but social attitude is more of a determining factor than gender

A more negative attitude to the peer group’s criminal activities can be seen as aspirational, and therefore those children would be less susceptible to the covert prestige forms (and more susceptible to the overt prestige of standard forms)

Received Pronunciation

Giles (1970s) - Evaluative reactions to accents

a prestige continuum emerged when British teenagers judged the aesthetic, communicative and status values of 13 accented speakers